The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, a book written by sociologist Erving Goffman in 1959 uses the imagery of theater to show the significance of face-to-face social interaction. He uses a theory of social interaction that he refers to as the dramaturgical model of social life - the theory that the self is made up of various parts that people play and is not meant to analyze people's behavior but the context behind it. Anyways, Goffman thought that social interaction was similar to theater as people in everyday life had roles to play just like the actors on a stage while others (audience members) are people who observe these roles and react to them. Central to the book and theory is the idea that people are constantly in a process of "impression management" in which everyone tries to present themselves in a way that prevents embarrassment of themselves and others. Goffman used the term 'performance' to refer to all activity of a person in front of a particular set of observers. Though their performance the actor or individual gives themselves meaning and delivering impressions to others which gives the actor an identity in the situation even if they may be unaware of it. Appearance shows a performer's social statuses or their temporary social state for the role like if they were to be doing work they would be wearing a uniform. Manner is how one plays the role and functions to show the audience how the performer will act or seek to act within a role. Contradictions and inconsistencies between appearance and manner will also greatly confuse an audience. An actor's front is the part of their performance which works to define a given situation for an audience. A social front  can be somewhat like a script in that for certain scenarios suggest what the actor will do or how they will react within them. Goffman even said that when a task is given a new front then it will rarely be entirely new. People often use pre-established scripts for certain situations even without it being entirely appropriate or needed for that situation. With stage drama in everyday interactions there are three regions which each effect an individuals performance; front stage, backstage and off-stage. The front is where one would formally perform where the actor knows they are being watch and they act accordingly, the back is where one may behave differently as they can get rid of the roles they play as they get further from other people, and in the off-stage region an individual actor may meet audience members outside of the performance on front stage.